Lateral thrust rudder unit

ABSTRACT

The invention contemplates an attachable or a detachable unit providing a lateral thrust rudder for ships. The invention contemplates a unitary mechanism constituting a tunnel, a propeller within such tunnel and driving means for same which can be bodily mounted into or detached from a ship. When same is in operating position, it is normally mounted at the bow of the ship and functions to apply a lateral thrust in one direction or the other as desired to such bow. Preferably, the unit is so mounted that the driving mechanism projects into the interior of the ship for easy access thereto. Suitable drive mechanism and control features, including pitch changing means for the propeller blades can be provided in a conventional manner as desired.

United States Patent [191 [111 3,830,184

Krautkremer Aug. 20, 1974 LATERAL THRUST RUDDER UNIT Primary ExaminerTrygve M. Blix [75] Inventor: Franz Krautkremer, 1m Muhren, Attorney, Agent, or Fzrm-Woodhams, Blanchard and Germany Flynn [73] Assignee: Schottel-Werft Josef Becker KG.,

Spay/ Rhine, Germany [5 7] ABSTRACT The invention contemplates an attachable or a detach- [22] Filed 1973 able unit providing a lateral thrust rudder for ships. [21] Appl. No.: 322,364 The invention contemplates a unitary mechanism constituting a tunnel, a propeller within such tunnel and Apphcatlon Data driving means for same which can be bodily mounted [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 107,341, Jan. 18, into or detached from a ship w Same is in operat 1971 abandoned ing position, it is normally mounted at the bow of the [30] Foreign Application Priority Data ship and functions to apply a lateral thrust in one di- Feb. 24, 1970 Germany ..7006666 rection of the other as desired to Such Preferably, the unit is so mounted that the driving mechanism [52] US. Cl. 114/148 projects into the interior of the hip for easy access [5 lift. thereto Suitable drive mechanism and control fea- [58] Field Of Search 114/148, 149, 151 t nincluding pitch changing means for the propeller blades can be provided in a conventional manner [56] References Cited as i UNITED STATES PATENTS 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 3,5l5,088 6/1970 Thulin 114/148 3,557,736 l/l97l Baer 114/151 PAIEmfuAuszolsn SWEBFZ 7 WELD WELD;

LATERAL THRUST RUDDER UNIT CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part application of Ser. No. 107 341, filed Jan. 18, 1971 and now abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a lateral thrustrudder for ships.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is already known to provide lateral thrust rudders, namely propellers, which are supported in a tunnel which is arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis of the ship in order to increase the maneuverability of ships. These lateral thrust rudders are stationarily built into the ships such as by welding or forming the lateral thrust unit as a part of the hull construction which has the disadvantage that the design of practically the entire hull is affected thereby. Thus, for example, it is not possible by reason of the welded connection or the unitary construction to change the hull of one type of a ship if same was originally constructed and built having a lateral thrust rudder even though in a given instance, or for certain uses, a lateral thrust rudder is not needed. Also the building of the ship becomes expensive if the entire hull is designed for a lateral thrust rudder.

The basic purpose of the invention is to avoid this disadvantage, namely, the lateral thrust rudder is to be built independently from the remainder of the ship and is, in effect, to be stocked as a standard component. A further purpose is to cause both the building of the ship and the building of the lateral thrust rudder to be simplified and thus less expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To attain these purposes the invention provides that the following elements which are releasably united to one basic unit: a housing releasably mountable on the ship, advantageously at the bow; at least one tunnel arranged in the housing transversely to the longitudinal axis of the ship, which tunnel conducts a stream of water from one side of the ship to the other side thereof;

at least one propeller supported in the tunnel;

a propelling plant consisting of at least one driving engine;

a power-transmitting device for transferring the drive output from the propelling plant to the propeller or propellers.

Such a basic unit has considerable advantages. Since the lateral thrust rudder is flanged to the bow of the ship which, of course, must be suitably prepared therefore, the tunnel can be arranged farther from the center of gravity of the ship than in the case of a stationary installation and such arrangement increases the effectiveness of the rudder. The ships can be provided with a unit according to the invention after construction thereof or such unit if originally supplied, can later be removed and can, for example, be replaced with a bow point without the lateral thrust rudder. Also a defective rudder can quickly be replaced with a new unit and it is easily possible to replace a lateral thrust rudder of one originally provided design with a unit having a-different construction. The advantage of the simplification of the construction of the ship and of the lateral thrust rudder has already been discussed above.

The propeller can if desired, be advantageously driven by a diesel motor. However, it is particularly advantageous to provide an electric propelling plant for the drive because then only cables and control lines, aside from the fastening means, are needed for connection to the ship.

A particularly advantageous construction is obtained when the propelling plant is arranged on the housing in such a manner that, when the unit is mounted onto the ship, it is positioned outside the unit and within the ship. Through this, the part of the unit associated with the hull is short and the propelling plant, namely, the diesel or electric motor(s), are positioned inside the main ship hull for easy access thereto.

The unit also advantageously includes suitable gearing, preferably reduction gearing, which transforms the rotational speed of the propelling plant to a rotational speed appropriate for the propellers. This gearing is advantageously mounted directly on the motor. It can, however, also be arranged in the housing which carries the propeller. It is advantageous to provide a shiftable coupling between propelling plant and gearing.

A particularly advantageous construction of the unit consists in the provision of an adjusting mechanism for the angle of incidence of the propeller blades. Particularly in combination with an electric motor, this design is desirable because the motor can then start with a very small rotational moment.

Finally, the unit can also be provided with a device, for example, with drivable flaps or the like, in order to close the tunnel or tunnels to avoid the resistance of the tunnel when the ship is moving. The starting resistance of the propeller or the propellers can be reduced also by suitable operation of the flaps.

Further advantages and characteristics of the invention are disclosed in the following description.

The invention is discussed in connection with FIGS. 1 to 3, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the bow of a ship with a unit of the invention connected thereto, the shading indicates schematically the division between ship and unit;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of the line 22 of FIG. 1 (without closing device);

FIG. 3 illustrates, also in an enlarged scale, the housing with propeller and adjusting mechanism for the propeller blades (two of the propeller blades are, different from FIG. 2, illustrated in one plane); and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a point of connection between the flange and the plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The ship bow is identified with the numeral 10. The ship bow is prepared for mounting a unit lla according to the invention thereto. The bow of the ship is here provided with a flange 12 having a plurality of holes therein so that the unit can be releasably secured, for example screwed or bolted, thereto as by bolts 12A illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, received in the holes. The housing of the unit 11a contains a tunnel 13 (compare also FIG. 2) which connects the port side and starboard side and in which tunnel a housing 14 is arranged by means of supports 15. A propeller 16 is supported on the housing which propeller can be driven by an electric motor 17 by transfer means which will be described later. The tunnel can be closed by closing elements, for example flaps 18. In FIG. 1, on one side the flaps are closed, on the other side they are open. The unit may also have two or more channels. The channel or the channels can contain also more than one propeller.

A reduction gearing 19 is, for example, mounted on the electric motor in order to reduce the rotational speed of the electric motor to the rotational speed required for the propeller. In case a slowly running driving engine is used, a step-up gear may then be provided, if necessary. A shiftable coupling 39 is advantageously provided between propelling plant and gearing. The unit is provided with a connecting plate 20 facing toward the ship, with which plate it can be centered, releasably secured on'the flange 12. The plate 20 has a plurality of holes therein on thesame spacing as the holes in the flange 12 and the holes receives a plurality of threaded connectors therein to releasably secure the plate 20 to the flange 12. The electric motor and, if necessary, the gearing are fastened to the connecting plate in such a manner that the two mentioned parts are positioned within the ship and are accessible from the ship. If it is not desired that the ship have a lateral thrust rudder, an empty bow bulge may be bolted on in place of the unit.

FIG. 4 illustrates the aligned holes 41 and 42 in the plate 20 and the flange 12, respectively. The hole 41 in the plate 20 is threaded and 'threadedly receives a screw bolt 43 therein. The screw bolt 43 extends through the hole 42 in the flange 12 and a nut 44 is engaged with the screw bolt to secure the plate 20 to the flange 12. A guide pin 46 is provided for guiding and centering the assembly prior to the nuts 44 being applied to the plurality of screw bolts. The engaging surfaces (defined by the line 47) on the plate 20 and the flange 12 sealingly engage one another to effectively seal the water out of the ship.

FIG. 2 illustrates in an enlarged scale the power transmitting elements and the housing. The drive is effected by the electric motor 17, if necessary, through the gearing 19 onto a drive shaft which leads into the housing. In the housing, it is provided with a bevel gear 22 (FIG. 3). The drive shaft is positioned in any suitable support. The bevel gear engages a second bevel gear 23 which is secured on the propeller shaft 24. The propeller shaft carries the propeller hub 25 and the propeller blades.

The propeller blades are adjustable in the exemplary embodiment. A known device can be used for the adjustment. As an example, a hydraulic drive is illustrated. A pump 27 acts through lines 28, 29, through a control mechanism 30 and further lines 31, 32 onto a known hydraulic motor 33 which is connected to the propeller shaft. The hydraulic fluid enters through a known feed sleeve 34 from the lines into the hydraulic motor. The propeller shaft is hollow and receives an adjusting shaft 35 which can be driven by the hydraulic motor abovementioned. The propeller shaft carries a gear 36'at its free end which gear engages pinions 37 which drive worms 38. The worms engage in a conventional manner worm gears which are connected to the propeller blades. Hydraulic propelling plants are already well known so that storage reservoirs, filters, control elements, etc. are not illustrated and described. Also the structure and function of propeller adjusting mechanisms are already well known. The lines 28, 29,

31, 32 are schematically illustrated for a better understanding without consideration for the detailed guidance which may be provided by one of the shaft supports.

In case that a fixed propeller is used in place of a propeller with adjustable blades, the gearing 19 can advantageously be constructed as a change-speed gear. A reversing gear is also advantageous in this case.

The embodiment of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A releasably securable lateral thrust unit for use on the bow portion of a ship and extending frontwardly thereof, comprising:

means defining a housing in the form of a bow bulge,

said housing means having plate means thereon and means defining a tunnel therethrough for providing water. communication between opposite sides of said ship and in a direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of said ship;

motorized water moving means directly secured to said housing means and independent of any direct support therefor from said bow portion of said ship,

said motorized water moving means being adapted to effect a movement of water through said tunnel means from one side of said ship to the opposite side thereof, said motorized water moving means comprising propeller means mounted for rotation internally of said tunnel means and motor means for driving same for rotation; and

releasable securement means for releasably securing said plate means on said housing means to said bow portion of said ship, said releasable securement means including a connecting member connecting said plate means to said bow portion, said connecting member being movable relative to said plate means for permitting said plate means to be releasably connected to or detached from said bow portron.

2. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 1, wherein said connecting member includes threaded fastening means coacting between said plate means and said bow portion for releasably fixedly securing said plate means to said bow portion.

3. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 1, including power transmitting means mounted between said propeller means and said motor means.

4. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 3, wherein said power transmitting means comprises clutch means.

5. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 3, wherein said power transmitting means comprises change-speed gearing means.

6. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 1, wherein said housing means has means thereon defining an exterior surface at one end symmetrical about a vertical plane extending through a central longitudinal axis of said ship, said plate means being located at the opposite end thereof and being contained within a vertical plane perpendicular to said central longitudinal axis of said ship;

wherein said motor means is directly secured to said plate means; and wherein said propeller means is mounted in said tunnel means and includes support means for rotatably 6 supporting a propeller and drive means for coning to claim 6, wherein said bow portion includes necting said propeller to said motor means. means defining a first flat planar surface having means 7. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit accorddefining an opening therethrough; and ing to claim 6, wherein said motor means extends rearwherein said plate means includes a means defining wardly of said plate means; and 5 a second flat planar surface adapted to sealingly wherein said bow portion includes means defining an engage said first flat planar surface means, said opening therein adapted to receive said motor motor means being received in said opening in said means therein first flat planar surface means. 8. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit accord- 

1. A releasably securable lateral thrust unit for use on the bow portion of a ship and extending frontwardly thereof, comprising: means defining a housing in the form of a bow bulge, said housing means having plate means thereon and means defininG a tunnel therethrough for providing water communication between opposite sides of said ship and in a direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of said ship; motorized water moving means directly secured to said housing means and independent of any direct support therefor from said bow portion of said ship, said motorized water moving means being adapted to effect a movement of water through said tunnel means from one side of said ship to the opposite side thereof, said motorized water moving means comprising propeller means mounted for rotation internally of said tunnel means and motor means for driving same for rotation; and releasable securement means for releasably securing said plate means on said housing means to said bow portion of said ship, said releasable securement means including a connecting member connecting said plate means to said bow portion, said connecting member being movable relative to said plate means for permitting said plate means to be releasably connected to or detached from said bow portion.
 2. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 1, wherein said connecting member includes threaded fastening means coacting between said plate means and said bow portion for releasably fixedly securing said plate means to said bow portion.
 3. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 1, including power transmitting means mounted between said propeller means and said motor means.
 4. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 3, wherein said power transmitting means comprises clutch means.
 5. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 3, wherein said power transmitting means comprises change-speed gearing means.
 6. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 1, wherein said housing means has means thereon defining an exterior surface at one end symmetrical about a vertical plane extending through a central longitudinal axis of said ship, said plate means being located at the opposite end thereof and being contained within a vertical plane perpendicular to said central longitudinal axis of said ship; wherein said motor means is directly secured to said plate means; and wherein said propeller means is mounted in said tunnel means and includes support means for rotatably supporting a propeller and drive means for connecting said propeller to said motor means.
 7. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 6, wherein said motor means extends rearwardly of said plate means; and wherein said bow portion includes means defining an opening therein adapted to receive said motor means therein.
 8. The releasably securable lateral thrust unit according to claim 6, wherein said bow portion includes means defining a first flat planar surface having means defining an opening therethrough; and wherein said plate means includes a means defining a second flat planar surface adapted to sealingly engage said first flat planar surface means, said motor means being received in said opening in said first flat planar surface means. 